Sharks 6, Oilers 3: Patrick Marleau, Logan Couture and captain Joe Thornton combined for nine points during a six-goal first period as San Jose spoiled Edmonton's home opener.
Marleau and Couture each had two goals and an assist while Thornton set up three tallies for the Sharks, who went 3-for-5 on the power play.
Nail Yakupov and defenseman Justin Schultz each scored their first NHL goal and Taylor Hall also tallied for the Oilers, who fell to 19-9-5 in home openers.
Edmonton got into penalty trouble early and San Jose took advantage. With two Oilers in the box, defenseman Dan Boyle buried a one-timer from the right faceoff circle at 3:17 to begin the first-period onslaught.
With the Sharks still on the power play, Couture beat Devan Dubnyk with a wrist shot from the left faceoff dot 73 seconds later for a 2-0 lead. The first overall pick in last year's draft, Yakupov halved the deficit during a man advantage at 8:25, but Marleau restored the two-goal cushion less than two minutes later by converting a nifty backhand pass by Thornton from behind the net.
It took only 65 seconds for Marleau to complete his second two-goal performance in as many games this season as he cashed in during another power play to make it 4-1. Couture buried a rebound on the doorstep at 18:09 and defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic beat a screened Dubnyk with a one-timer from the blue line with 40 seconds left in the period to complete the uprising.
Schultz scored on a one-timer from the top of the right faceoff circle during a 5-on-3 power play in the second session and Hall beat Antti Niemi to the glove side from the high slot early in the third. Niemi finished with 26 saves and Yann Danis stopped all 14 shots he faced in relief of Dubnyk, who was pulled after making 11 saves in the first period.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Sharks D Brent Burns remained out with a lower-body injury. ... The Oilers played the Sharks in their home opener three previous times, winning all three. The most recent victory was a 3-2 shootout triumph on Oct. 4, 2007. ... San Jose set a franchise record for most goals in a period on the road with its six tallies in the opening session. ... The Sharks swept their trip to Alberta for only the second time in 28 tries. San Jose opened the season with a 4-1 victory in Calgary on Sunday.
San Jose | Edmonton | |
Logan Couture 3 | Points | Jordan Eberle 2 |
Logan Couture 2 | Goals | Taylor Hall 1 |
Joe Thornton 3 | Assists | Jordan Eberle 2 |
Logan Couture 1 | Power Play Goals | Justin Schultz 1 |
N/A | Short Handed Goals | N/A |
Antti Niemi .897 | Save Percentage | Yann Danis 1.000 |
Antti Niemi 26 | Saves | Yann Danis 14 |
Team | Shots | Goals | Power Play | Penalty Kill | Penalty Mins | Face Offs Won |
San Jose | 31 | 6 | 3-5 | 3-5 | 12 | 37 |
Edmonton | 29 | 3 | 2-5 | 2-5 | 12 | 31 |